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So-called "Soft Matter" encompasses a wide range of systems, from nanoparticles to proteins, from membranes to synthetic polymers. In general, soft materials are highly responsive and their behaviour can be tuned by changing their local environment. At the SoftNanoLab, we are interested in using a combination of theory, computer simulations and experiments to unravel the design principles that allow to obtain a specific response, tayloring it towards a specific application. From nanoparticles that can selectively deliver drugs only to specific targets to polymers-based biosensors that change colour upon the presence of certain molecules or glues for biological tissues, our group is willing to push the boundaries of materials science to discover the materials of tomorrow.
Read more about our projects on the research page...
(a) Binding of a multivalent nanoparticle (blue sphere, ligands in red) to a cell surface (pink) expressing certain receptors (see article here). (b) Degree of crystallinity as a function of density and temperature in DNA-Coated Colloids (see article here); (c) Schematic of the X–X′ colloidal surfaces at three temperatures. (see article here).
News
Read about our newest publication in Nature Communications on combinatorial entropy behaviour in ligand receptor interactions. - 06th October 2020
A slightly different Christmas lunch this year @Haidilao. - 10th December 2019
Congratulations to Kaiye and Fiona who graduated from the MSc in Advanced Materials Science and Engineering at Imperial College and continue doing PhDs in the SoftNanoLab group. Congratulations also to Lucas and Jan who finished their MEng degree in the Materials department in April and are now off to apply their knowledge outside of Imperial. - 08th May 2019